Vancouver Indie Studio Anemone Hug Unionizes

Vancouver-based support studio Anemone Hug (@AnemoneHug) has voted to form a union with The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).

Anemone Hug is now the first full-service video game studio in Canada to be unionized, we are excited to be making history and working together to come to our first collective bargaining agreement!

— Anemone Hug (@AnemoneHug) September 21, 2022

Founded in 2015, Anemone Hug does client work and will release the “first major game based on our original IP” in 2024 according to their site.

Anemone Hug is best known for their work supporting the development of Hardspace: Shipbreaker, Crossfire Legion, and Secret Ponchos- all games from fellow Vancouver indie developers.

Anemone Hug’s most recent support project Hardspace: Shipbreaker just left early access this month, poetically a game about a unionization movement in a dystopic future wage slavery scenario (with fun space physics).

They become the second Canadian game studio to unionize, with the Edmonton (remote) office of Keywords voting unanimously to unionize in June of this year. Check out our interview with James Russwurm of the Keywords Edmonton union.